getting sleep with changing schedule

[gman33]

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I'm a MS-4 doing an EM rotation now.
Pretty sure I'm going to be applying to the field.

Currently working shifts on a progressive schedule.
2 8 am - 4 PM, 1 3 PM -11 PM, 1 11PM - 7 AM, day off.

How do you guys sleep on this type of schedule?

Could you also comment on how you sleep on whatever schedule you are working out in residency or practice beyond?

Please give some specific hours if possible.

I don't mind working nights, weekends, holidays, whatever.
Just want to make sure I can adjust to the changing schedules.

Thanks.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

I'm a MS-4 doing an EM rotation now.
Pretty sure I'm going to be applying to the field.

Currently working shifts on a progressive schedule.
2 8 am - 4 PM, 1 3 PM -11 PM, 1 11PM - 7 AM, day off.

How do you guys sleep on this type of schedule?

Could you also comment on how you sleep on whatever schedule you are working out in residency or practice beyond?

Please give some specific hours if possible.

I don't mind working nights, weekends, holidays, whatever.
Just want to make sure I can adjust to the changing schedules.

Thanks.

I lay down in bed and close my eyes. Usually I'm running enough of a sleep deficit that I can sleep just about any time. The only time I have trouble is if I sleep too long after a night shift and then try to go to bed early. If you're having trouble now, it only gets harder.

Good sleep hygiene is important. Cool room, white noise, no kids/dogs in bed, minimal partner sleeping issues etc.

I've never worked a "progressive" schedule, although my shifts have generally always rotated forward. I work 5 types of 8 hours shifts, beginning at 6, 11, 14, 19, and 22. I go to bed around midnight when working the 6, 11, and 14s and wake up either around 8 am or, if the 6 shift, at 5:15. If working the 19, I go to bed about 3 am and get up at 9 or 10. So my sleep schedule is pretty set UNLESS I work the 22 shift. That's the one that screws with me. If I have another one the next night I go to sleep about 7 and sleep as long as I can. Sometimes that's 5 hours, sometimes it is 10. If I don't have another one and am flipping back to days, I sleep until 12 or 13, and then get up. I try to go back to bed by 1 am. The worst possible scenario is working a 22, then having a "day off" the next day, then working a 6, but that doesn't happen often.

At some point in my career, I'll just pay someone else to work the 22s. For now, not an option, and for a few more years I'll probably prefer the money to the better sleep. But I don't know how long that'll last.

This is one of the real downsides of EM (like uncertainty, no long-term patient relationships, drug-seekers, people who don't pay you etc), so you need to come to terms with it if you're going to continue down this track.

 

[Farmer2DO]

As a paramedic, I've dealt with the rotating sleep schedule for years.

Going from days to evenings to nights is not bad. Going from nights back to days is hell. When you get home from your last overnight shift and go to bed, the best thing you can do is not sleep too long. You'll want to sleep all day, then won't be able to get to bed early that night, and the next day will be miserable. If you go to bed around 8 am, try to be up by 1 pm and do something that day so you fall into bed exhausted that night.

I love nights, but they're hell on a family life. I can do days, but I hate getting up in the morning. But a schedule where you have to do all of them is tough.

 

[Birdstrike]

I'm a MS-4 doing an EM rotation now.
Pretty sure I'm going to be applying to the field.

Currently working shifts on a progressive schedule.
2 8 am - 4 PM, 1 3 PM -11 PM, 1 11PM - 7 AM, day off.

How do you guys sleep on this type of schedule?

Could you also comment on how you sleep on whatever schedule you are working out in residency or practice beyond?

Please give some specific hours if possible.

I don't mind working nights, weekends, holidays, whatever.
Just want to make sure I can adjust to the changing schedules.

Thanks.

Bottom line:

You have to choose when and where you want to suffer. There is no way to eliminate the circadian disruption of rotating shift work, without eliminating the shift work. You can only manage it.

In your above example, the 8-4, to 3-11 shift switch is a piece of cake. Going to the 11pm-7am is where things get tricky. Do you want to suffer at work, or on your free time? You have to decide or it will decide for you. If you want to be rested for your 11pm-7am shift, you do not, I repeat you do not go home after the 3pm-11pm shift and sleep from midnight to 8am. You go home after the 3-11, stay up until 3 or four in the morning and sleep no more than 4 hours. Yes, you're dead tired all day or your half day "off".....but, here's the advantage: before your 11pm shift you'll be so damn tired you'll nap 3-4 hours without a problem. This will make your 11pm-7am shift bearable.

You're not out of the woods yet. What do you do after your last night shift ends at 7am? Sleep all day like a normal person would? Absolutely not. That's a prescription for misery. In your above example, you state that after the rotation you have one day "off". If, in fact, you have only one day off before you go back to the 8am shift, you absofrickinlutely do not want to sleep all day like your body needs to. Why? If you sleep all day, you'll be up all night. If you're up all night, how do you think you're going to feel working the 8am shift all day not having slept at all, the night before? Terrible. So you sleep as little as possible: 1, 2, 3 or definitely no more than 4 hours. This and only this, will allow you to be TIRED ENOUGH, come midnight to actually sleep at night, so as to switch your body and mind back to day shift.

So, you have to pick. Suffer on your day off, and feel good at work? Or feel great on your day off, and suffer at work?

Sleeping pills don't work. Neither do stimulants. You can't cheat your circadian rhythms.

The only real solutions:

1-Pay your partners WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them to do all your nights and gladly accept the pay cut, or

2-Demand and expect a minimum of 4 FULL DAYS OFF after each switch from an overnight to your first day shift (because the first day isn't a day off. You work until 7am that day. The second and third days aren't days off because you're dead tired. Finally on your 4th "day off" you get your first real day "off", or

3-Never, I repeat, never work more than 128 hours per month. Why? Because maximal recovery time is the only real way to deal with the stresses the circadian disruption causes to your body and mind, or

4-Be an ED director so you work as few clinical shifts as possible, or

5-Don't be an ER doctor.



That's how it's done.

 

[deleted65604]

Well said birdie-man.

My current job is single coverage, therefore, only night and day shifts. I ALWAYS get a nap the day before a night shift. I help myself get that nap with 50 of benadryl when I'm not tired. That way, I am more alert the next morning at 300 AM (when I generally hit the wall hardcore without a nap). I also only sleep for 4-5 hours after my last night shift to avoid the horrible insomnia that can occur if you sleep too much during the day. I have had many nights where I saw every hour come and go, laying in bed, yearning for sleep and tossing and turning, waking up incredibly tired (I think I sleep a lot more than I think I do, but it still isn't restful).

Having said that, I find insomnia for me is strongly tied to my stress-level. If I am at peace, I sleep like a log. If I'm wound up, my mind races even with severe fatigue. My point is, being an "angry elf" is detrimental to your sleep schedule. I'm an angry person, and really stew over things... not a good trait to have in ER (or any profession I guess).

I have also become a major lazy butt at home. Having several kids, I can't predict the frequency of good night sleeps. I use this as an excuse to sleep in whenever is humanly (or husbandly possible). No early to bed and early to rise for me. My motto is sleep whenever, wherever, as long as possible. I reaffirm the sentiment that others have expressed about having an understanding family. I think it behooves us all to bring up the decreased life expectancy studies with our families as evidence to support our demands of them and our intolerance of the our holy sleeptime. I don't care if the evidence is flawed, I still use it to attempt to manipulate my wife into letting me sleep. I'm lucky because my wife doesn't work. My demands often get outshadowed by her terrible sleep schedule inflicted by hungry newborns, sick toddlers, night-terrors, her own sicknesses, and the chaos that is a family. I can't imagine trying to pull this off if your spouse also has a relentless, high demand job like ER.

I think that one of the downsides of ER and its impact on home life is not so much the night-shifts, but the absolute invariability of your schedule. My Dad was a union mechanic. He could call in "sick" at the drop of a hat, for whatever reason he wanted. Me...not so much. I have never taken a sick day in 6 years. I'd be pissed if somebody wanted to who wasn't sick enough to be in the ER themselves.

 

[painmd87]

I have 4 night shifts left as a sleep tech before med school starts, but I thought I'd offer a little advice on changing your sleep times.

1) Figure out what is going to work and what isn't. I work 8 p.m. - 7 a.m. now M-Th and switch to the complete opposite schedule F-Su. It took some trial and error, but I usually schedule an incomplete, but sufficient sleep on Friday to get me through the afternoon/evening, then sleep a normal Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then take a late nap Monday before my 8 p.m. shift starts again. With a progressing shift, you're going to have to gauge how much sleep it takes to get yourself into high alertness without sleeping all day or night every day.

2) Behavioral modifications are often helpful if you find you have trouble falling asleep after a new shift. This includes the standard "Don't do anything in bed but sex and sleep" as well as getting your body physically ready for sleep by doing progressive relaxation or taking a warm shower/bath.

3) Light box therapy is extremely helpful in resetting your clock. Around 20 minutes of bright light exposure can get you on the right track when your "day" starts. Along those lines, get really good darkening shades, or eye shades.

4) Consult a sleep doc. There's an entire subspecialty at your disposal here. Sleep docs can help you form a strategy that is healthy and productive for you, as well as evaluate the need for supplements like melatonin (4-5 hrs before bed) or pharmaceuticals that will either help you sleep (some very fascinating new ones coming down the pipeline for circadian rhtyhm disorders) or keep you awake (although these are expensive and have onerous insurance guidelines for getting coverage).

I lay down in bed and close my eyes.

This is my favorite line to give to patients in my sleep lab when they whine, "How am I suposed to sleep with all this stuff on?" (referring to the various wires and monitors we set up). Laying down with your eyes shut!

 

[gman33]

Thanks for all the insight.

I've worked various schedules on different rotations during third year, but this is my first go with one that really switches around like this.

I was actually pretty tired going into this week, so it's hard to say how my body is reacting to the schedule. Hopefully I'll get a good idea by the end of the month.

I know that this is going to be a tough part of my chosen career.
As long as I can tolerate that, I think I can deal with the other issues that come with the field.

If I can't, I better start looking for something else.
Problem is, that many of the other fields have their own sleep issues, but that is mainly related to call. Which in my mind, can be worse, since you are working the next day after being up all or most of the night.

 

[LFSdriver]

My question to those of you that get 6-7 hours of sleep in the day time when it is bright, do you feel adequately rested with that much sleep?

I spoke to a few sleep study fellows who said if you're sleeping when it is light outside you'll need more sleep than usual as much as 10-12 hours to feel the same as getting 7 hours in darkness. In my experience that seems to be about right for me.

 

[turkeyjerky]

My question to those of you that get 6-7 hours of sleep in the day time when it is bright, do you feel adequately rested with that much sleep?

I spoke to a few sleep study fellows who said if you're sleeping when it is light outside you'll need more sleep than usual as much as 10-12 hours to feel the same as getting 7 hours in darkness. In my experience that seems to be about right for me.

that makes sense to me too--I've never felt good after waking up from sleeping during the day; usually I felt like a zombie the rest of the day no matter what. Whenever I've been up all night on call this year, I've tried to stay awake as much as possible during the day (usually ended up falling asleep on the couch for a couple of hours) and just sleep the next night as regular.

 

[southerndoc]

My fiancee is a sleep tech. For years I slept during the day with only blinds. After getting some darkening drapes and white noise, I sleep very soundly. We have shutters instead of blinds on the windows in our home. That coupled with dark drapes makes it extremely dark during the day. We have to turn a light on to see

 

[roja]

Sleep hygeine. ED schedules are both a plus and a minus. Be very rigid about your sleep hygiene. I'm an amazing sleeper but sometimes EM is a challange. I gaurd my sleep... I have black out drapes. I nap. I recognize when I am tired and need more sleep.

 

[WilcoWorld]

I find that the best way to make it through my 1st overnight is to go into the day before it well-rested. I sleep until I'm up. I make sure to work out, and I try (not always successfully) to nap for 4 hours before my shift.

I maximize the efficiency of my time in bed by being very protective of my sleep (thankfully, my wife is understanding). I sleep in a cool, dark room with white noise.

I arrange my days off around my sleep. My goal is to never get more than two REM cycles behind (assume need of 3-4 REM cycles/24 hour period, credit 1 cycle for every nap with dreams or for every 2 hours unconscious). I often will sleep for 11+ hours to achieve this, but it's worth it.

 

[xaelia]

Blackout shades are key; photoreceptors in your retina are responsible for activating your wakefulness systems during the day.

As far as nights go - you have two choices. You can either work no more than two at a time in a row, which helps you keep your "anchor" sleep and lets you get back to days without as much fuss - or you can fully roll into nights and do them as a large block. That being said, I still live alone at the moment, and have few interferences with my sleep schedule.

When I come off a block of nights, I usually try to stay up as much as I can the next day and nap for no more than a few hours. It's like kind of stealing back another day off from your sleep schedule to get things done.

Also, espresso machine.

 

[Elpenor]

How common is it for guys to "only do nights"? If one were to go for this what sort of things could he negotiate?... time and a half, no holidays, etc?

Also, I'm assuming most partners would love to have a guy who "only wanted nights" in their group, right? If you could handle only doing nights it seems like it could be great.

 

[gman33]

A little out of it today, coming off a night shift last night.
Slept a few hours this morning, but didn't really get in a good nap before the shift yesterday.

I guess this will require a little more trial and error.

Just never really had to do this before.

I'm about a dozen years older than the average med student, so making the adjustment might be a little tougher.

 

[xaelia]

Beyond the obvious, the other main problem I see with being a "nights only" guy is that you're stuck with sign-out from the day guys - with the accompanying risk for disposition and liability nightmares...particularly if you're at a place without a lot of back up and you're stuck begging to transfer people in the middle of the night.

 

[Transmogrifier]

Are there any data on melatonin supplementation for helping with circadian rhythm disruption in shift workers?

I'm a night owl so I've used benadryl and melatonin to help get to sleep when I need to be up early the next day. Melatonin seems to help, but it could just as well be placebo. The only melatonin studies I've read were looking at using it for insomnia in normal patients.

 

[gman33]

Finished my last shift on my EM rotation.
Thought the medicine was great. Could totally see myself as an EP.

Still having some thoughts about the whole changing schedules stuff.

Found myself really tired this month, even though the total amount of hours was pretty benign.

Hopefully I would adjust a little more over time.
Hard to pick a career based on "hope".

I guess I'll be wrestling with this issue for the next couple of months.

 

[gman33]

Just to give an update, I decided I'm applying to EM.
I'll just have to make sure I get sleep where and when I can.

Thanks to all for the input.😀

 

[docB]

Since this thread got bumped I thought I'd add to it.

The changing schedule is a problem and it does get worse as you get older. I'm 40 and I have kids. So sleeping in, even after a late shift is not really an option. For example I just did 4 "late shifts" which for me are 3p-1a. This morning I got up at 8a after getting to bed at about 3a to watch the baby while my wife takes the older one to an event. Tomorrow I'm back on day shifts so I have to get up at 0430 and start work at 0600. I'm tired as hell now. I have a cold and by Monday I'll be a wreck.

I like shiftwork but it really does not, by itself, make something a "lifestyle specialty."

 

[GeneralVeers]

If you can work unpopular shifts, then you can have a reasonably stable schedule.

I typically work 12-9, 3-11, or 6-2 shifts, which are not the most popular with our group. As a result I typically can get sleep between 2 AM and 10 AM pretty consistently.

Also having no kids to pester you makes life easier.

 

[dchristismi]

Agree with Veers. I tend to work mostly 3p-11, 5p-1 and 8p-4, which aren't the most popular. I only have 3 shifts this month which are not these hours (one is slightly earlier; two are pure overnights), which does make it easier. I deliberately decline the "nicer" morning/daytime shifts, which makes it easier as there is somewhat less shifting.

But I also don't have children, practice religious sleep hygiene and love my blackout shades.

 

[la gringa]

when all else fails... especially the first time you're trying to sleep at night after working a string of nights - ambien.

 

[Birdstrike]

Constantly switching back and forth, from different shift to different shift all the time, is murder. It is to me anyway. I've tried everything and the only thing that works is to work as few shifts as possible. That's just being honest. It didn't always bother me, but it started to gradually, over time.

 

[mjjdm1985]

My question to those of you that get 6-7 hours of sleep in the day time when it is bright, do you feel adequately rested with that much sleep?

I spoke to a few sleep study fellows who said if you're sleeping when it is light outside you'll need more sleep than usual as much as 10-12 hours to feel the same as getting 7 hours in darkness. In my experience that seems to be about right for me.

Would this apply to sleeping in a room with the flashing lights of a tv? I ask because my girlfriend says she cannot fall asleep without watching tv. I usually use earplugs so I can sleep in (almost) silence, at least, but I still don't feel like I sleep as well as before we put a tv in the bedroom. I used to aim for 7.5 hours of sleep and wake up feeling ready to go, but now I get even more sleep yet have a hard time getting out of bed...

Interested in more experienced and knowledgeable thoughts on the matter.

 

[Apollyon]

Would this apply to sleeping in a room with the flashing lights of a tv? I ask because my girlfriend says she cannot fall asleep without watching tv. I usually use earplugs so I can sleep in (almost) silence, at least, but I still don't feel like I sleep as well as before we put a tv in the bedroom. I used to aim for 7.5 hours of sleep and wake up feeling ready to go, but now I get even more sleep yet have a hard time getting out of bed...

Interested in more experienced and knowledgeable thoughts on the matter.

In general, sleep professionals say only two things should happen in the bedroom: sleep, and sex. Anything else is detrimental to sleep hygiene.

The flashing lights are just as bad as having the window shades open.

 

[mjjdm1985]

In general, sleep professionals say only two things should happen in the bedroom: sleep, and sex. Anything else is detrimental to sleep hygiene.

The flashing lights are just as bad as having the window shades open.

Thanks for the input

 

[Groove]

Another vote for draconian enforcement of sleep hygiene, blacked out windows, fan or noise maker if you're sleeping during the day. Benadryl or Vistaril as needed. SO needs to understand the imperative importance of your sleep. I sleep 50% in the bedroom and 50% in the guest room that's been blacked out. Wife doesn't like it but my life "suck meter" hits well into the red if I don't get my proper sleep. When I'm switching from nights to days, I'm a complete zombie lieutenant a**hole for the first 2 days off and I can't seem to do anything about it so I'm generally best left alone during that time. I always feel hungover...and pissed off about...nothing in particular. Then I'm completely fine.

 

[Peds2ER]

Get some of this...

Tape up to cover your windows. I used duct tape. It's pretty ghetto, and obviously I live alone; but it;s cheap and super effective. For 20 bucks, my room is as dark as a tomb, and cool to boot. It makes sleeping in the daytime much easier and restful.

 

[danielmd06]

Would this apply to sleeping in a room with the flashing lights of a tv? I ask because my girlfriend says she cannot fall asleep without watching tv. I usually use earplugs so I can sleep in (almost) silence, at least, but I still don't feel like I sleep as well as before we put a tv in the bedroom. I used to aim for 7.5 hours of sleep and wake up feeling ready to go, but now I get even more sleep yet have a hard time getting out of bed...

Interested in more experienced and knowledgeable thoughts on the matter.

Actually, the light from televisons, computers, and hand held devices is particularly bad for initiating sleep. And yes, you should use the bed for sleep and sex only if you're having trouble with sleep scheduling.

Lights rich in the blue wavelength disproportionately stimuate the melanopsin-utilizing retinal ganglion cells that link up with your retinohypothalamic pathways to entrain your circadian rhythm. You're basically exposing yourself to light that is delaying your circadian rhythm. The opposite happens in the morning, when light exposure serves to help awaken you and advances your sleep phase.

My advice would be to adhere to strict sleep hygiene, and use melatonin 1-5mg for sleep initiation (30 minutes to one hour prior to desired sleep onset time) and thirty minutes' worth of light exposure after awakening. Melatonin can also be used as a circadian phase advancer too, not just as a weak sleep promotor. It will also help to avoid bright light (at the termination of your evening shift) with the aid of sunglasses for the drive home, and drapes, eye shields/shades before bedtime at home. The light exposure basically does the same thing as that pesky running television when you're trying to get ready for sleep.

Good luck and drive safe!

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

During residency, I bought 1/2 inch foam from Home Depot. It took two pieces, but was easily cut with a razor blade to fit just perfect into my window. It worked well as it fit behind the blinds so it looked fine on the inside. The outside window was in the backyard, so it was not a big deal. But the styrfoam had solid white on that side so it really did not look all that ghetto.

The room was virtually pitch black when I shut the door and bathroom door. Small sliver of light along the top edge that made just enough that I could get up to get a drink, etc. I took it out the last ~6 months or so while trying to sell my house. I found out that my room was darker with that in during the day, then with a brighter moon at night without it.

I am in a new home now as I have transitioned to my new job. Our new bedroom has 8 windows and foaming those up are not going to be an option. We have a guest bedroom with a closet that fits a twin bed just fine. Fortunately, I will only do a few night shifts (about 6) every 4 months so I think I can just 'wing it'... We will see...

I agree with respect from anyone in your house, kids or spouse/girlfriend/roommates is the biggest key. Keeping the room cool is important and I like a fan also... I found what messed most with my day sleeping was urinating. It was like I had a prostate problem, waking up usually every few hours to go. After 2-3 nights, that would stop... then I had the same problem swapping back over and getting up all night long to go... I tried not drinking much of anything after midnight, it did not seem to matter. I think the body was just tuned to pee during the day....

 

[dchristismi]

A good sleep mask (and I'm not necessarily talking about the cheapie ones they give you on certain European red eye flights - although they are better than nothing... cough*cough*Air France) helps too.

I used sleep masks until investing in my current blackout curtain liners, and created a "sheet" of duct tape to put across the top. Worked pretty well in a pinch.

 

[mjjdm1985]

Actually, the light from televisons, computers, and hand held devices is particularly bad for initiating sleep. And yes, you should use the bed for sleep and sex only if you're having trouble with sleep scheduling.

Lights rich in the blue wavelength disproportionately stimuate the melanopsin-utilizing retinal ganglion cells that link up with your retinohypothalamic pathways to entrain your circadian rhythm. You're basically exposing yourself to light that is delaying your circadian rhythm. The opposite happens in the morning, when light exposure serves to help awaken you and advances your sleep phase.

My advice would be to adhere to strict sleep hygiene, and use melatonin 1-5mg for sleep initiation (30 minutes to one hour prior to desired sleep onset time) and thirty minutes' worth of light exposure after awakening. Melatonin can also be used as a circadian phase advancer too, not just as a weak sleep promotor. It will also help to avoid bright light (at the termination of your evening shift) with the aid of sunglasses for the drive home, and drapes, eye shields/shades before bedtime at home. The light exposure basically does the same thing as that pesky running television when you're trying to get ready for sleep.

Good luck and drive safe!

Thanks for the response and advice Dan! All of this is very interesting information. I still have a long way to go before I possibly have to deal with shift work, but I should be developing good sleep habits already.

 

[gman33]

Bumping my own thread for the second time.
Probably poor form, but wanted some more input.

About halfway into intern year.

The schedule between night/day has been beating me up.

In the ER we do progressive shifts.
Kind of ok on these. Kind of.

Off service we have night float weeks.
Like switching between having to work 6-6 PM or like 7PM - 7AM.

I have trouble napping before a first night shift and getting back on a normal schedule after a run of nights.

I've tried all the usual suggestions, which help, but this has still been pretty rough.

Starting to question whether I could deal with this for a whole career.
Maybe it will be better when I have more time to recover (by working less hours).

Anyone want to offer any more insight, encouragement or whatever?

Thanks,

 

[Arcan57]

Bumping my own thread for the second time.
Probably poor form, but wanted some more input.

About halfway into intern year.

The schedule between night/day has been beating me up.

In the ER we do progressive shifts.
Kind of ok on these. Kind of.

Off service we have night float weeks.
Like switching between having to work 6-6 PM or like 7PM - 7AM.

I have trouble napping before a first night shift and getting back on a normal schedule after a run of nights.

I've tried all the usual suggestions, which help, but this has still been pretty rough.

Starting to question whether I could deal with this for a whole career.
Maybe it will be better when I have more time to recover (by working less hours).

Anyone want to offer any more insight, encouragement or whatever?

Thanks,

Trouble sleeping at night after run of nights is common and won't get better with time. 3-4 overnights with day sleep in a blackened room will throw me into nights and it usually takes me ~5 days to switch back to day time fully. Nobody is understanding of this past day #2. I prefer to do single or maybe double nights and just deal with the fatigue by keeping my caffeine intake strong.

Napping prior to a night shift can be learned and is strongly encouraged. You don't need hours (although it can help if you're going for anchor sleep) but even 20-30 minutes can be crucial when 4am comes around and your cortisol says bye-bye.

 

[keeping-it-real]

Stay up late after your last night shift. Try and stay up until 2 or 3pm. Then when you fall asleep, you'll probably wake up at 1 or 2 am. Then stay up until 7pm or so and when you go to bed you should be able to make it to 4 or 5am and get back on a day schedule.

This is exactly what we do (in reverse) when we start night shifts and most people don't have as much of a problem.

 

[Birdstrike]

.

 

[BJJVP]

Anybody here work only nights? Do you find it easier on your body to just stay on one work schedule only? I know your days off will be weird but at least your turnaround between 2 consecutive shifts are not shortened due to poor scheduling.

 

[Daiphon]

Anybody here work only nights? Do you find it easier on your body to just stay on one work schedule only? I know your days off will be weird but at least your turnaround between 2 consecutive shifts are not shortened due to poor scheduling.

Yep. Nocturnalist here. Makes it easy on the body, tough on the social life... but when I'm off I feel OK. Plus, I'm paid more for nights so overall less hours for same pay as a daywalker.

That said, I can sleep anywhere/anytime as long as I'm horizontal - so it doesn't bother me all that much. Blessed & cursed that way... d=)

Cheers!
-d

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[ljpm8224]

Would this apply to sleeping in a room with the flashing lights of a tv? I ask because my girlfriend says she cannot fall asleep without watching tv. I usually use earplugs so I can sleep in (almost) silence, at least, but I still don't feel like I sleep as well as before we put a tv in the bedroom. I used to aim for 7.5 hours of sleep and wake up feeling ready to go, but now I get even more sleep yet have a hard time getting out of bed...

Interested in more experienced and knowledgeable thoughts on the matter.

I love my bucky 40 blinks mask...comfy and snug... in a variety of cute colors:

^^ if you're a dude I think they have some neutral manly colors too.

I work nights and nights only. 8pm-8am. Much better than flip flopping between miscellaneous shifts. We have a three month bid, so if you're nights you are on it straight for 3 months. (although if you're motivated/broke you can pick up days, stack to 24s, 36s...).

I train endurance racing, so it's awesome to have days off to go screw around on a 80 mile bike or whatever... plus doing your errands on weekdays when everyone else is at work rules.

My #1 most hated shift to get stuck on was the noon-midnight. Facking lose your day AND your night. That shift was the suck. Also I spent way too much $$ on that shift buying lunch and dinner. And we had crazy call volume during that time because everyone else is going through shift change 😎 ugh! avoid the noon to midnight!

 

[jbar]

I've found that there is a magic number of hours of sleep that you can get after your night shift and still get to sleep that night. It's a bit different for everyone but for me it's about 4.5-5 hours of sleep. So I get home at 8am, sleep till 1pm. I'm usually awake enough to get some errands done for the rest of that day but can still fall asleep that night by 10pm. I like doing it that way much better than trying to stay up all day until 2pm.

 

[MCAT guy]

Who has better lifestyle, EM or IM hospitalalist? Assuming having a family.

 

[glorfindel]

Who has better lifestyle, EM or IM hospitalalist? Assuming having a family.

I have a better lifestyle than any of my IM hospitalists. I also have a better diet, wardrobe, and haircut. My dog is more athletic as well.

 

[MCAT guy]

I have a better lifestyle than any of my IM hospitalists. I also have a better diet, wardrobe, and haircut. My dog is more athletic as well.

Good to know. It was sounding like EM was worse.

 

[docB]

Who has better lifestyle, EM or IM hospitalalist? Assuming having a family.

"Lifestyle" is an unqualified word here. Lifestyle means different things to different people. One person's lifestyle is money, another means set schedule and another means time off.

 

[gman33]

Don't really see any other job in medicine I'd rather do.
I'll just keep playing the trial and error game and hope something sticks.

Thanks for all the input.